Shuttle changer



SHUTTLE CHANGER 2 ySheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 28, 1935 115;. 1936; I A; CEDERLUND lE'r ,ALY

SHUTTLE CHANGER Filed Jan. 28, 1935 sheets-'sheet '2 Snuentos Y bert Cedeund brdge R. Mmes I Gornegs.,

Patented Sept. 15, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHUTTLE CHANGER Application January 28, 1935, Serial No. 3,734

20 Claims.

This invention is a continuation in part of our Y remain active as long as desired. It is an irn-V portant object of our invention to provide a controller moved in timed relation with the shifting shuttle boxes though not necessarily connected to the boxes and having a set of controller latches, one for each shuttle box, which receive and store indications of weft depletion. A regu- 20, larly moving actuator dog is directed into lifting relation with the lifter lever by the control elements, but the latter are so controlled that only one can engage the actuator dog at a time. Each control element will remain in indicated position until it effects a shuttle change, after which it is reset to normal position.

The latches as heretofore constructed have been held in normal position yieldingly and as a result it has been possible for` them to be accidentally moved to an improper setting. It is a further object of our invention to provide lock elements which positively hold the latches against movement to indicating position until released by a feeler indication. We attain this 35 result by causing the device which moves the latches rst to rock a lock element to unlocking position, after which the released latch is moved to indicating'position.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a setting device such as a solenoid to act for all the shuttles to place the correct control latch in operative position with respect to the actuator dog. The structure set forth herein is more particularly adapted for use in connection with looms of the type set forth in copending applications Serial Nos. 9545;A 667,464; 460,746; 747,358; and 665,140 filed by Turner, but is not necessarily limited to use with the weft detector at the magazine end. Y

The aforesaid applications show a loom operating with shuttle magazine controlling hooks which are positioned by a device moving in time with the shifting shuttle boxes. It is a further object of our invention to connect the control device for the hooks with the carrier for the latches to insure registry of the latches,'maga zine compartments and shifting boxes.Vv

In former constructions the regularly moving actuating dog has been acted upon directly as the result of weft detector operation, and it was necessary to hold the latch in abnormal position until lifting of the box rod for the magazine was started. Furthermore, special mechanism was needed to release the latch after transfer Vwas completed. It is a still further object of our invention to set the controllatches Vfor the dog independently of the latter and also reset said devices by simplified means. These controls are` preferably operated mechanica1ly,'although the initial force 'to set them may bean electro-mag- 152 netic device. Y 'Y With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, our invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth in the claims. n

In the accompanying drawings, wherein a convenient embodiment, of our invention is set forth,

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of the lower part of a loom with our invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is a detail plan View looking in the direction of arrow 2, but on an'enlarged scale,

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 3 3, Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 4 4, Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is a detail similar to part of Fig. 4, showing the manner of unlocking the latch, and

Fig. 6 is a detailed perspective View showing the upper end of the dog which co-'acts with the controllers at the time of shuttleV change.

Referring to the drawings, the bottompart I0 of the loom framehas mounted thereon axed stud II on which are pivoted a regularly moving actuator lever I2 and a normally inactive lifter lever I3. Lever I2 carries a roll I4v located in groove I5 of a cam I secured to the bottom shaft I'I of the loom and rotating once for every twoA picks of the loom. The forward end of lever I2 has pivoted thereto an actuatordog I8 movable about pivot I9 against spring 20' which normally holds the dog against stop screw 2|, see Fig. 3. The upper end of the dog is pointed and has an upper inclined surface 22.

The normally stationary lever I3 has a lug 23 forming a downwardly opening notch 24 with a surface 25 inclined down and away from lever I3. The forward end of the latter is connected to a shuttle changer box lifter rod 26 by the mechanism indicated at the left of Fig. 1 and forming no part of our present invention. It is sumcient to state that when the box rod 26 rises shuttle from the magazine.

The rear part of lifter lever I3 carries an ad- Vjustable stud 21 to cooperate with hooks 28 and 29 located respectively behind and in front of a rockable lever 30. The latter moves about pivot 3l fixed to an arm 32 of a stand 33 secured to xed stud I'I, and has a depending arm 34 movable by a connector 35 attached to a part Y operative as soon asa lock element is moved moving in timed relation with the shifting boxes at the other end of the loom. TheY connector has a flexible part drawn around a guide pulley Y 35 rotatable on another arm 31 of stand 33.

The lever 3D therefore moves in timed relation with the 'shifting boxes, andmoves one or the other of the hooks into the path of stud 21;

Y This part of the structure may ber similar to that shown in application Ser. No. 747,358 filed by Turner.

. The matter thus far described forms no partV of our inventionandmay be constructed'and operated'as shown in the aforesaid applications. Y' Incarrying our invention'into effect, we Yprovide the normally stationary lifter lever I3 Vwith Van upstanding horn 4U and mount thereon a solenoid 4I 'havinga vertically movable core 42.

This solenoid is energized by the detector when indicating weft exhaustion. When the core is lifted bythe solenoid a link 43 causesV rocking of a setting lever 44 (Figp2) pivoted on. a pin Y 45 which extends between and is supported by arms -46 and 41 on lever I3. Lever 44 has an unlocking finger 48 (Fig. 4) which can lie under either-of two lock elements 490i' 5 0 pivoted to dog-controlling latches 38 and 39, respectively.Y

The latches are pivotally mounted on a pin 5I in a yoke 52, and-the latter slides on a second pin 54 extending between and secured to arms 46 and 41.

tively to the yoke is prevented by forming them with hubs 55 which contact with eachother and the sides` 56 of the yoke. The pins 45 and 54 in the arms 46 and 41 constitute a guide frame for the sliding yoke52, and an extension 58 of side 56 extends partly around pin 45 to hold the yoke in horizontal position.

A rigid rod .has its forward end pivoted to an ear 6I on the yoke and Vis attached at its V50 over the unlocking finger-48.

rear end to lever. 30, as by a clip 62. .As lever "30 rocks from one position tothe other the yoke is caused Vto slide along the pins 45 and 54. As shown in Fig-'2 lock. element 49 is over the finger 48, but uponshifting of the boxes, rod 69 will pull .the slide rearwardly to place element Eachlatch has a rod`65 pivoted thereto and passing through a cross bar'66 on the yoke. A

compression kspring 61 around each rod urges the latter to move away from cross bar 66 and holdsV the right ends of the locking elements as viewed in Fig. 5 against a stop pin 59 lcarried by the.

yoke. The dog controlling latches 38 and 39 are provided with downward extensions 1I) and 1I, respectively, each having an inclined lower face-V 12 movable to dog controlling position.

Y Each latch extension has a stop' screw 14 so placed that'it can engage a second stop pin 69 Ycarried bythe yoke.

AA small .bracket .15 (Fighl) is secured to the loom V frame and has a resetter or spring arm Lateral motion of the lat-ches relasponding latch is set forth more particularly in Fig. 5. Each lock element is pivoted to its latch as at 19 and is normally held against a stop 80 on the latch which limits movement of the lock element under action of a light compression spring 8| interposed between the latch and its lock element. When linger 48 rises it moves the lock against spring 8| and away from stop pin 59. The force of springs 61 is always directed below the rod 54, hence the springs are to unlocked position to movethe corresponding latch into controlling position relatively to the Y dog I8. Should the latch stick, however, the lock Velement will engagea surface 82 on the latch Y and positively move the latch toward indicating position as the linger 48 continues to rise.

Under normal'conditions, when sufcient weft is present in the weaving shuttles, lever I2 rises periodically with the lifter dog I8 out of line withr the lug 23, and lever I 3 Will'therefore remain downV as the dog rises with actuator lever I2. `The yoke will change its position intimed relation with the boxes, preferably by a'pattern or cam control exercised prior to actual box change, so that rst one and then the other of the lock elements 49 and 50 will be over linger 48. As weaving vcontinues the weft supply in .ie shuttles will become depleted, and the first to reach this Vcondition will indicate through the weft detecting mechanism and cause energization of solenoid 4I. This will result in a rocking oflever lil to lift the lock element which hap-` pens to be over the finger 48. As shown in Fig. 4 the element 50 has been raised.

The springs 61 are normally effective to hold their associated locks against the stop pin 59 and upon movement of the lock 50 by the finger 4S away from the pin. 59, the corresponding .spring 51 rocks the latch 39 Ito the position shown in Fig. 4. From this it Will'be'seen that the arm vlil? does not necessarily give the latches the full dotted line position shown in Fig. 4. Continued upward movement of the actuator lever thereupon raises the forward end of lever I3 and the rod 26 is elevated to effect change of shuttles. At the same time the stud 21 at the rear of lever I3 is lowered to engage one or the other of the hooks 28 or 29 to release a shuttle from the magazine.

Should a delay in transfer be necessary due to shifting of boxes at the opposite end of the loom there will be a corresponding sliding movement of the yoke so that the latch correspondingto the depleted shuttle will move out of the path of the dog IS and the latter'will move from the full to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3 without raising the rod 26. A latch or guide member in indicating position but out of line with the dog will remain set until the shuttle corresponding thereto is restored to action regardless of the number of picks laid by the active shuttle. As soon as the boxes shift to return the depleted shuttle to action the corresponding sliding movement of the yoke will bring the indicated latch into alignment with the dog I8, and the operation already described in connection with Fig. 4 will ensue.

It is thus possible to indicate for a change by a depleted shuttle and then move this shuttle out of action and exchange the next shuttle which comes into action without loss of the rst indication. In this way We are able to store an indication and retain the same until the proper time to complete the change which is initiated by the weft detector without requiring the latter to repeat its indication.

As the levers I2 and I3 approach the upward limit of their movement the rounded part 'I8 of a raised latch which happens to be, placed to ccact with the dog Will be reset by the spring 16. It should be noted that this resetting device is out of alignment with any latch which has been shifted out of operative position relative to the dog.

The upper end of the lifting dog is shown in Fig. 6 from which it will be seen that the surface 22 which effects the camming of the dog into the notch 24 is narrow so that a comparatively small end shift of the yoke will take said surface 22 out of the range of one or the other of the surfaces 72 on the bottoms of the latches. That part of the dog which does the actual lifting and is designated at may be as large as is needed to transmit the force required to lift the changing boxes. When the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 4 the surface 22 will rise without contacting with any latch which may be in indicating position, such as I I but not aligned with the lifting finger 48. The purpose of this is to permit the retention of an indication and to render the resetter 'I6 operative only with respect to the latch which causes upward movement of the levers. It will be seen by an inspection of Fig. 4 that the lower end of a latch in raised position is free to move to the right during the resetting operation without being restrained in any way by the dog or any other part of the mechanism.

During the resetting already described in connection with the resetter 'I6 the upper right surface of the lock element as viewed in Fig. 5 will move under the stop pin 59 until it clears the latter, whereupon the spring 8I will rock the lock element from the dotted to the full line position shown in Fig. 5 and the parts will be reset with the latch positively locked against improper or accidental indicating movement.

From the foregoing it will be seen that lever 30 acts as a controller to position the yoke and also the hooks which each lead to a different delivery stack in the shuttle magazine. The indicating mechanism includes a set of latches movable to register with the dog one at a time and each movable to a position to guide the dog into driving position relatively'to the lifter lever. It will also be seen that the solenoid is carried by the normally stationary lifter lever so that the electrical connections will be subjected to as littie movement as possible. Furthermore, the upward movement of the box lifter lever I3 acts to reset the latches and their locking elements. Also, the mechanism for storing the indication comprises separate latches which'are given an indicating movement independently of the dog and therefore the latter is free to respond to the control of the latches, regardless of the order in which shuttle changing is effected relatively to the order of exhaustion in the weaving shuttles. Furthermore, the locks prevent accidental movement of the latches toward indicating position andare so constructed and controlled that they each automatically restore themselves to locking position when a latch is reset.

Having thus described our invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and we do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what we claim is:

1. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loom operating with a plurality of weaving shuttles any one of which may become active, a changing member to be moved to effect shuttle change, la normally stationary lever connected to the member, a solenoid mounted on said lever to be'energized upon depletion of weft in the active shuttle, a regularly oscillating actuating lever, a dog carried by the actuating lever and movable into engagement with the first named lever, and a plurality of separate dog controlling latches, one for each weaving shuttle, to be under control of theV solenoid one at a time and each effective to move the dog into driving relation with respect to the normally stationary lever.

2. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loom operating with a plurality of weavingshuttles any one of which may become active, a normally stationary changing member to be moved to effect Vshuttle change, a regularly moving actuator member, a dog on one of said members to engage the other to cause movement of the normally stationary member by the actuating member, said dog normally in such position as to be incapable oi." transmitting force from one member to the other, and a plurality of devices mounted on one of said members, one for each weaving shuttle, each device capable of being set to establish driving connection between the members through the dog.

3. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loom opmeans effective upon exhaustion of Vweft in the active shuttle to set the controlling element corresponding to the active shuttle into operative position relatively to the dog.

4. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loom operating with a plurality of weaving shuttles any one of which may become active, a normally stationary lever to be moved to effect shuttle change, a regularly moving actuator lever, a dog mounted on and movable relatively to one of the levers to have engagement with the other lever to establish driving connection between the levers, a set of controlling elements slidably mounted on one of the levers, the elements being capable one at a time of cooperating with the dog to cause the same to establish driving connections between the levers, and means dependent upon which of the weaving shuttles is active to shift the set of controlling elements to cause register of the element corresponding to the active shuttle with the dog.

5. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loom operating with a plurality of shifting shuttle boxes to render any one of a plurality of Vweaving shuttles active,'a normally stationary lever to be moved 7207-' ing` actuator lever, a dog carried by one of said to move the control element corresponding to the active shuttle into position to engage the dog to cause the latter to establish driving connection between the levers.

6. In a multi-shuttle-shuttle changing loom operating with a plurality of shifting shuttle boxes to render any one of a plurality of weaving shuttles active, a normally stationary lever to bev moved to eiectV shuttle change, a regularly movlevers and movable tor position to establish driving connection between the levers but normally out of said position, a set of control latches for the dog normally in non-indicating position, means to move the set of latches so that the latter will register one at atime with the dog, the latter being out of operative relation with respect to any latch in non-indicating position, means effective upon `exhaustion of weft in the Vactive shuttle. to move the latch corresponding thereto into indicating position, the indicatingV latch which is also in register with the dog thereafter engaging the latter to move the same to aposition to establish driving connections between the levers', and means to reset the control latch which.

is in indicating position and in register with the dog to non-indicating position. Y

7. In a multi-shuttleshuttle changing loom'operating with a plurality ofrshifting shuttle-boxes to render any one of a plurality of weaving shuttles active, a normally stationary lever to be moved to eifect shuttle change, a regularly moving actuator lever, a. dog carried Vby one of said levers and movable to position to establish driving connection between the leversbut normally outcf said position, a set of control latches for theV dog normally in` non-indicating position,V

means to move the set of latches so that the latter will register one at a time with the dog, the latter being out of operative relation with respect to any latch in non-indicating position, means eiective upon exhaustion of weft in the active shuttle to move the latch corresponding thereto into indicating position, the indicating latch which is also in registerY with the dog thereafter engaging the latter to move the same to a position to establish driving connections between the levers, and means eiective during movement of the levers to reset to non-indicating position the latch which is in indicating position and also in register with the dog.

8. In a multi-shuttle shuttlechanging loom ca- Y pable of changing shuttles of different characters nections between the leversbut normally out of said position, a plurality'of control elements normally in non-indicating position, a controller for the elements and hooks to move the elements one at a time in register with the member in accordanceWith the position of said shftable hooks, and means effective uponindication of weft eX- haustion in the'active shuttle to move the control element corresponding to the active shuttle from' non-indicating to indicating position, a control element in indicating position and also in register with the force-transmitting member being effective Vto position the latter to establish driving con-l nection between the levers.

9. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loom operating with a plurality of shuttles any one of which may become active, a normally stationary lever to be moved to elect shuttle change, a regularly moving actuator lever, a dog carried by the latter lever and movable to a position to move the rst named lever but normally out of such position, a yoke slidable on the rst named lever, a plurality of control elements on the yoke, one for each'of the shuttles which may become active, said elements Ynormally being in non-indicating position and movable one at a'time into register with the dog, depending upon whichshuttle'is active, and means to move the elementcorrespending to a depleted active shuttle from'nonindicating to indicating position, an element in indicating position when in register with the dog being eiective to moveA the latter to establish driving connection between the levers.

10. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loom operating with a plurality of weaving shuttles any one of which may become active, two members to be coupled together, one ofV which is normally at rest and the other of which has an operating movement, means` to connect the members together, a controller for each of the Vweaving shuttles movable to indicating position upon occurrence of Vweft exhaustion in the corresponding shuttle, said-controllers being capable one at a.

time of having operative relation with respect to the connecting means, a lock Vto hold each controller against movement toward indicating position, and weft controlled means to move the'lock to unlocking position and thereafter move the corresponding controllerY toward indicating position. Y f 11. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loo operating with a plurality of weaving shuttles any onefof which may become active, two members to be coupled together, one of which is normally at Vrest and the other of which has an operating movement, means to connect the members together, a set of controllers for the connecting means movable so that but one controller can be in controlling' relation with respect-to the means at a'time, a lock to hold each controller in nonindicating position, and weft controlled 'means to unlock the controller corresponding to a shuttle giving indication of weft exhaustion, and thereafter effective to move aV controller which is unlocked toward indicating position. Y

l2. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loom operating with a plurality of weaving shuttles any one of which may become active, two members to be coupled together, one of which is normally at rest and the other of Which'has an operating movement, means to connect the members together, a set of controllers for the connectingV means movable relatively to the latter so that but one of saidcontrcllers is capable of cooperation with said means at a time, yielding means tending to move each controller into indicating position, a lock for each controller'to prevent'the yielding means from moving the controller to indi- Veating position, and weft controlled means toV move the lock to unlocking position.

13. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loom operating with a plurality of weaving shuttles any one of which may become active, two members to be coupled together, one of which is normally at rest and the other of which has an operating movement, means to connect the members together, a. set of controllers movable laterally relatively to the connecting means so that but one controller is capable of co-action with said means at a time, yielding means tending to move each controller toward indicating position, a lock operatively connected to each controller and the corresponding yielding means to prevent the latter from moving the controller toward indicating position, and weft controlled means to move the locks one at a time to unlocking position.

14. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loom operating with a plurality of weaving shuttles any one of which may become active, two members to be coupled together, one of which is normally at rest and the other of which has an operating movement, means to connect the members together, a set of controllers for the connecting means, yielding means tending to move each controller toward indicating position to be operatively relatable to the means, a lock for each controller to prevent the yielding means for moving the controller to indicating position, a weft controlled releaser for the locks, and means to move the locks relatively to the releaser so that but one lock is capable of operative relation with respect to the releaser at a time.

15. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loom having a plurality of shuttles each capable of becoming active, actuating means normally having an idle stroke but capable of having a working stroke to assist in a shuttle changing operation of the loom, a p-lurality of controller elements each capable of causing the actuating means to have a working stroke, a lock to hold each controller element against movement to a position Where it can cause the actuatingmeans to have a working stroke, and weft controlled means to move a selected lock to unlock its controller element and to thereafter move said controller element to operative position with respect to said actuating means.

16. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loom having a plurality of shuttles each of which is capable of being active, a member to be move-d from idle to working position to assist in a shuttle changing operation of the loom, selecting mechanism including a plurality of controllers for the member, lock means to hold said controllers normally out of indicating position, weft controlled means to move a selected lock to unlock the controller corresponding to the active shuttle when the latter is substantially exhausted of weft, and

means to cause an unlocked controller to become operatively related to the member to cause the latter to move to working position.

17. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loom having a plurality of shuttles each of which may become active, a member to move from idle to Working position to assist in a shuttle changing operation of the loom, a set of controllers for the member, locks to hold the controllers in such a position that they are incapable of effecting movement of the member to Working position, weft controlled means to move a selected lock to unlocking position, and means to reset the locks and controllers in positions incapable of affecting the position of the member.

18. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loom having a plurality of shuttles each of which may become active, a member to move from idle to Working position to assist in a shuttle changing operation of the loom, a set of controllers for the member, locks to hold the controllers in such a position that they are incapable of effecting movement Vof the member to working position, weft controlled means to move a selected lock to unlocking position, and means to reset the locks and controllers in positions incapable of aiecting the position of the member, said resetting means being rendered operative by a force transmitted through the member.

19. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loom, a member normally in idle position but movableV to working position to assist in a shuttle changing operation of the loom, a set of controllers each movable from normal to indicating position, the controller corresponding to the active shuttle when in indicating position being capable of eiecting movement of the member to working position, and a resetter for the controllers to cooperate with a controller in indicating position, said member when in working position causing relative motion between the resetter and the operative controller to eiect resetting of the. latter. Y

20. In a multi-shuttle shuttle changing loom having a plurality of weaving shuttles each of which may become active, a member movable from idle to working position to assist in a shuttle changing operation of the loom, a resetting device, a plurality of controllers for the member movable between the resetter and the member, means to move the controllers from normal idle to indicating position, means to cause cooperation between the controllers one at a time and the member and resetter, the member causing relative movement between the controller cooperating therewith and the resetter to effect resetting of said controller.

ALBERT CEDERLUND. ELBRIDGE R. HOLMES.V 

